Analysis of Cracks Starting from a Square Hole in a Rectangular Plate

Fracture Mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the propagation of cracks in materials. Engineering structures are designed to withstand the loads they are expected to be subject to while in service. However, material imperfections which arise at the time of production or usage of the material are unavoidable, and hence must be taken into account. Stress intensity factor is a fracture parameter which decides the failure of the component. In this work, analysis of two symmetrical cracks emanating from a square hole in a rectangular plate with the pressure applied in the hole. Initially the plate is subjected to remote tensile loading & stress intensity factor is determined using finite element based software ANSYS. The value of stress intensity factor is compared with the estimated value which is determined using the boundary correction factor given in the literature. Then the loading condition is changed to pressure applied in the hole only. Further pressure is applied in the hole & also to the crack face & stress intensity factor is determined for every case. Variation of length of crack, pressure etc. is studied during this work